April - powering up our energy mix
Written for and originally published by Homes & Gardens
We’re lucky to live within a shell’s throw of Margate beach. It has been a lifeline offering sea air to clear the mind or the brick dust from my hair while taking a break from weekend housework. Daily, the beach changes. The Westbrook end, nearest our house, can go from being a narrow slither of sand, to a ten minute walk to the shore over slippery chalk, depending on how the moon pulls the water, sand and kelp. On a circadian walk with the toddler and the terrier recently, I received a requested callback from our energy supplier, Ecotricity. In view of the 13.5 square mile Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, with a spring hooley blowing my toddler to her sandy knees, and the caller’s charming Gloucestershire accent rolling down the phone, it felt like the kind of brand experience 21st century marketing can only strive for. I like green energy.
Britain is a gentle landscape; no vast wildernesses, extreme temperatures or unconquerable mountain ranges. Reputed for fog, drizzle, and pastoral hills rather than snowstorms, surfing or heat waves, it’s rare to find ourselves top-ranking in macho-natural charts. But we lead on global wind resource potential, with a golden combination of high wind speeds and large shallow seabeds. Our unique position geographically means we could be, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson put it, ‘the Saudi Arabia of wind’, if we chose to be. Handily, wind blows hardest in the winter, when we demand more energy. This could give us the backbone of a green energy mix fit for Net Zero, currently targeted for 2050. Some argue, and I believe them, that 2050 is cutting it too fine, so I incessantly urge friends, family and anyone that will listen (or read, hint, hint) to switch to a green energy company that invests in green infrastructure, like Ecotricity, to keep green technology growing and improving.
Wind saves the day, then. Well, not quite. The effort of powering up our energy mix must also be balanced by powering down our demand. Despite our enormous renewable energy potential, we cannot reasonably meet our current fossil-addicted consumption levels with green sources alone. 10,000 offshore turbines would just about cover half of it, and that’s an ambitious number. As with all environmental convictions we must reduce too, halving what we demand currently.
I’ve written previously about the importance of insulating homes, so here I invite consideration of our other domestic energy demands via the appliances we buy. We’re off to a winning start on this one - technological efficiencies are making our gadgets more energy efficient and household electricity use is declining, back down to mid 1990’s levels. This is brilliant and a trajectory that must continue. Buying A+ or above energy rated white goods makes a difference, reducing energy use and therefore bills. Importantly, it also casts a vote. Accumulated consumer spending can become more potent than a General Election ballot when it comes to environmental issues, because companies are listening and improving. Micro-votes like these have been contributing to a feedback loop between consumers, companies, and legislators with businesses now so attuned to our preferences and motivations to buy, that the loop is shorter and faster paced than five year electoral cycles. This has formed part of the picture of the recent palpable shifting culture and public mood, and will continue to as we reinforce positive products or services with our green pounds. Whether it’s a fridge, or the electricity that supplies it, buying the greenest version you can afford both invests in improvement, and signals to the company that makes it that progress matters.